Using Self Psychology in Psychotherapy

Book excerpt: Self psychology offers a new perception of how pathology develops. It emerges, not from intrapsychic conflict, but from the pervasive absence of empathically responsive selfobject in the child's inner and outer world. The goal of this book is to familiarize mental health professionals with this new approach to human behavior and demonstrate its implications for treatment in various stages of development and in a broad range of situations. Mental health professionals who are familiar with the concepts of self psychology will find this book useful in expanding their treatment ideas. For those who are unfamiliar with self psychology, this material will provide new, different, exciting, and effective ways of thinking about patients and intervening in the treatment relationship.